


Nightmares

by SpiritCosplay



Category: The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Genre: Comforting Link, Dreams and Nightmares, Gay Prince Sidon, Link Comforting Sidon, M/M, Prince Sidon has Trauma, Sidon has Nightmares
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-09
Updated: 2020-12-09
Packaged: 2021-03-09 20:02:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,289
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27972041
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SpiritCosplay/pseuds/SpiritCosplay
Summary: Sidon has helped Link through his nightmares continuously after he arrived at the domain. But now, is it Link's turn to comfort the Prince.
Relationships: Link & Prince Sidon, Link/Prince Sidon
Comments: 7
Kudos: 147





	Nightmares

**Author's Note:**

> This was originally made for SidLink week that @/hylainfury made on tumblr, but I never ended up writing the other prompts. I decided to upload this anyways, so I hope you enjoy!

Returning to the Zora Domain was always something Link enjoyed. It finally allowed him to rest in a place where people recognized him as the Hero, but it wasn’t so overbearing on him. The Zora people didn’t place as much pressure on him to hurry and restore Hyrule by defeating Ganon. They seemed to understand that he needed to rest every now and then. After saving Vah Ruta, Link found himself returning more often to the Domain when he needed a break or simply someone to talk to.

That’s where Sidon came in.

Yes, he was a Prince. Yes, he had responsibilities. Yet, the Zora seemed to always make time for Link when he visited between quests. He was so curious about his adventures and his travels… It made Link feel worthy to be in his company.

There were multiple occasions where Sidon had caught Link in a bad time, say teleporting to the Ne’ez Yohma shrine after narrowly escaping a lynel’s killing blow, or waking him up from yet another nightmare. His nightmares came often when he was able to get actual sleep. He couldn’t tell if they were memories or ominous premonitions of what was to come if he didn’t defeat Calamity Ganon and save Princess Zelda. Somehow, Sidon was always there to wake him up and stay by his side. Being given the room beside Sidon upon his return to the Domain was a blessing and a curse.

Honestly, he liked not having to spend rupees every night when he wanted to visit the Domain. Then again, having his room right next to Sidon’s also made it able for the other to hear his desperate screams when he awoke. The comforting presence of the Prince soothing him did help ward away the fears and the nightmares. Link wasn’t sure when this cycle began, but he was just happy to not be alone all the time. He’s spent countless nights in the forests and deserts around Hyrule and suffering through those nightmares was hard enough with Sidon with him. He found himself longing for Sidon whenever he was away, wanting his comfort and his gentle touch.

This night, however, was different.

When Link arrived at the Domain once again, he found Sidon standing in front of his sister’s statue. He walked out of the alcove the Ne’ez Yohma shrine was located in and saw the familiar, tall figure of the Prince who was lost in thought as he gazed upon the statue of the Princess. He often caught the Prince doing so, but he never saw him quite like this. His scales weren’t quite as vibrant, and Link could see a darkness under his eyes. Could Zora’s have bags under their eyes? He didn’t know, but it definitely looked like Sidon was carrying them.

As he walked up to Sidon, he saw the other blink out of a daze at the presence next to him. “Oh, Link, I did not notice your return! How have you been since your last visit?” Sidon asked as he smiled at the other. Link instantly noticed how the other wasn’t acting as he normally did. He was typically overjoyed to see the Hero and was begging him to tell him of his travels. Not this time.

“It was okay. Just some moblin fights,” Link replied, his voice quiet as always. He never talked much, and only held a conversation with his closest friends. He was glad Sidon was one of them. He moved his blue eyes from the statue to look over the Prince once more, knowing that something was wrong. “You okay?”

“Oh, I’m alright, don’t you worry about me,” Sidon replied with a chuckle as he looked back up at Mipha’s statue. Link did the same, letting them both collect their thoughts. Sidon let out a quiet sigh before looking up at the sky, seeing that it was getting quite late due to how the stars began to poke through with the moon raising overhead. “Why don’t we both retire for the evening? You did come quite late, I’m sure you had a long journey.”

Link simply nodded at the suggestion, figuring that Sidon must be exhausted as well for him to look as awful as he did. He walked with the Prince back to the palace above the King’s throne room. Of course, Link did give the King a wave before going up the hidden staircase behind the Prince so they could both head to their rooms. As they walked, Link began to ponder what could be the source of Sidon’s troubles. Had there been more attacks on the Zora Domain that he was refusing to tell him about? He hoped it wasn’t the latter. He tried to take care of the Lynel on Shatterback Point every Blood Moon, but he hadn’t gotten around to it quite yet. Or was the cause of his exhausted complexion something entirely different? Link couldn’t pinpoint it, but the Prince’s voice shook him from his thoughts.

“I hope you have a good night, Link. Should you need anything, do not hesitate to knock,” Sidon said with a smile as they both stood in front of their doors. Link gave the Prince a small smile back before watching the other retreat into his room and close the door behind him. 

Link found himself worrying for Sidon even more than before. What happened to the usually bubbly and excited personality the Hero had grown to love? He simply sighed and went into his own room to instantly shed his gear and clean himself off. Despite his worries, Sidon was right; he definitely needed to rest now that the events of the past week or two have caught up with him. Almost the second he hit the soft mattress, Link was fast asleep.

His sleep was cut short by a sudden yell coming from the room beside his before it was cut off, probably from something covering whoever was screaming. Link instantly sat up and grabbed his sword, prepared to defend whatever was attacking the Domain and attacking the Prince in the room next door. He ran out of his room and forced the heavy door of Sidon’s room open, the master sword glowing in his hand, but the enemy he found was not was he expected.

Standing in the room was Sidon, only Sidon, who had clearly jumped out of his sleeping pool and was… crying? Link quickly set the master sword down on the floor - he could apologize to her later - and ran up to Sidon to reach up and gently pull his hands away from his face so he could see the tears streaming down his cheeks. So this is why Sidon wasn’t himself; he was being plagued with the same nightmares that haunted Link.

“Oh Link- I am so sorry, I did not mean to wake you-” Sidon said before another sob wracked through him and one of his hands covered his mouth so he could try and muffle the sounds. Link sighed and held Sidon’s arm to drag him over to where there was a large bed in his room. He knew that it was there because of how often Link got nightmares, but he was glad that it was. He had the other sit down while he stood in front of him and reached up to gently start wiping the tears from his eyes.

“It's okay,” Link said quietly, knowing that Sidon needed a moment to calm down from whatever his nightmare was. What he didn’t expect was for Sidon to wrap his arms around him and pull Link to his chest. It caught him off guard, but he was willing to give the Prince whatever he needed for comfort. “You’re okay. I’m here with you.”

Sidon nodded in response, just glad that Link had come and wasn’t pushing him away. He needed the comfort after these nightmares and his father wasn’t exactly mobile enough to come to his aid like when he was a kid. “I’m sorry,” Sidon said after being able to calm down enough to loosen his grip on Link and be able to speak without another sob cutting him off. “It was about Mipha, and Vah Ruta. They’ve been occurring every night now… Every night you’re gone.

“I know it seems like I may be acting like a child, but could you stay with me tonight? Please?” The way Sidon asked, with his exhausted, saddened voice, had Link instantly nodding. He didn’t need to think about what would come of this, nor the butterflies and warmth in his stomach and chest. He just knew that he had to stay with his friend and comfort him like he had done countless times before for Link.

He found himself leaning forward to press his forehead against Sidon’s crest, as the other often did to him whenever he was calming down from another nightmare. It always comforted Link to feel the soft touch, it reminded him of when he was just a child and didn’t have the weight of Hyrule on his shoulders. He heard a soft gasp come from the Prince before the other relaxed under his touch. Link stayed there for a few moments longer before pulling away from Sidon and closing the door to the room, knowing that there may be prying ears and eyes. He picked up the master sword and leaned her against one of the tables beside the bed, figuring it’d be better to have her nearby rather than just laying on the floor. Who knew if there would be an actual attack?

Link sat next to Sidon on the bed and reached over to gently place his hand on his. Sidon looked up at Link before turning his hand over to hold the other’s, squeezing it gently. “Thank you. I know I’ve helped you many times with your nightmares and you may be just returning the favor, but I can’t help still being grateful.”

Link shook his head and gave Sidon’s hand a squeeze back, “It's not just returning the favor. I know how bad they can get, I want to help you.” 

Link pulled the Prince up into the bed to have him lay down so they both could rest there and hopefully sleep the rest of the night. He laid down beside the Prince and heard him take a deep breath, but he never took his hand away. Link could understand the nightmares and the relief that came with someone being beside you, but he couldn’t understand why his heart was beating so quickly at the prospect of staying beside Sidon once more to help them both get some rest. He looked over at the Prince to catch him looking back at him with golden eyes that were still wet with unshed tears, but he seemed grateful. 

“Sleep, Sidon,” Link said quietly as he reached up once more to wipe away the tears as gently as he could. “I’ll stay.”

Sidon slowly nodded as he found himself leaning into Link’s hand as it wiped the wetness from his eyes. Despite how much he had helped the Hero with his nightmares, it made him nervous to be having this kind of help for his own. It was comforting to not have to be so strong all the time, especially when his sister’s passing still affected him so much. 

“Thank you,” Sidon whispered before closing his eyes to try and fall back asleep.

Link remembered something as he watched Sidon try to drift off to sleep. He remembered how the Prince would run his hand through Link’s hair when he was in the midst of him trying to fall back asleep, so he figured he could try something similar and see if it could provide some comfort. He apprehensively placed his hand on Sidon’s head tail, starting where it connected to his head and slowly running his hand down it. He felt the Prince flinch under his touch at first, but he moved the tail up to press against his hand, reassuring Link that the touch was okay.

Link shifted on the bed to sit up against the pile of pillows to make it easier to reach Sidon’s head and stroke his tail, making it so he wouldn’t strain his arm with how much larger the Prince was compared to his small frame. Sidon opened his eyes as he felt Link move, seeing how he moved to make it easier on him so he wouldn’t have to reach so far. Perhaps it was his exhausted mind telling him it was alright, but Sidon moved to place his head in Link’s lap, finding that he was instantly comfortable there.

Link held his breath for a moment as Sidon rested his head in his lap, but he quickly continued his motions. Now that he was focusing on it, Sidon’s tail was smoother than he expected. Maybe it was because he was a Prince, but his scales were perfectly in place to make it easier for Link’s hand to glide along the surface. If he was being honest with himself, he would like to do this more often.

After a few minutes, Link felt Sidon relax greatly under his touch, and he looked down at the Prince to see his eyes closed and his gills slowly moving to take in air. He smiled a bit at knowing that he was finally asleep, and he just hoped that he would be able to stay asleep and get the rest he needed. Link closed his own eyes as he leaned back against the pile of pillows, finding himself drifting off to sleep as well with the Prince’s head and tail a comforting weight on his lap.

**Author's Note:**

> I have another SidLink fanfiction in the works! It's called This Won't Be The Thing That Ends You (Instead It Will Be My Love). I would highly appreciate it if you checked it out!  
> Tumblr: spiritcosplay


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